Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria are listed last.

Pro (Yes)

Con (No)

McCain, John (R) - Pro John McCain, US Senator (R-AZ), stated in a Mar. 19, 2007 Telegraph.co.uk article titled "Straight-Talking McCain Vows to Fix World's View of the 'Ugly American'": "I would immediately close Guantanamo Bay, move all the prisoners to Fort Leavenworth [Kansas] and truly expedite the judicial proceedings in their cases." Mar. 19, 2007 John McCain

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	McKinney, Cynthia (Grn) - None Found
	ProCon.org emailed the McKinney campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.

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Nader, Ralph (Ind) - Not Clearly Pro or Con Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, stated in a Counterpunch article "Whitehouse on a Rampage Against the Constitution" dated Sep. 30-Oct. 1, 2006: "As both military attorneys and civilian pro bono attorneys for those imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have declared - the vast majority of the nearly 700 'detainees' were innocent from the get-go, victims of bounty hunters in Afghanistan and neighboring countries who 'sold' them for cash to intermediaries who turned them over to the US military for transfer to Cuba. All these 'catches' made George W. Bush look like he was really rounding up all those evil terrorists - like cab drivers, British tourists of Pakistani descent and so forth." Sep. 30-Oct. 1, 2006 Ralph Nader

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Obama, Barack (D) - Pro Barack Obama, US Senator (D-IL), stated at the Dec. 4, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate, hosted by National Public Radio and held in Des Moines, IA: "Now, what we need to do is we need to close Guantanamo. We need to restore habeas corpus. We need to send a strong signal that we are going to talk directly to not just our friends but also to our enemies." Dec. 4, 2007 Barack Obama

CANDIDATES WHO HAVE WITHDRAWN OR WHO NO LONGER MEET OUR CRITERIA      Biden, Joe (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 3, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      Brownback, Sam (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Oct. 19, 2007; no position found as of that date Top    Clinton, Hillary (D) - Pro Hillary Clinton, US Senator (D-NY), in an Apr. 26, 2007 article titled "Senator Clinton Calls for Closure of Guantanamo Bay Detention Center" on her official candidate website, stated: "Guantanamo has become associated in the eyes of the world with a discredited administration policy of abuse, secrecy, and contempt for the rule of law. Rather than keeping us more secure, keeping Guantanamo open is harming our national interests. It compromises our long term military and strategic interests, and it impairs our standing overseas. I have certainly concluded that we should address any security issues on what to do with the remaining detainees, and then close it once and for all." Apr. 26, 2007 Hillary Clinton Top      Dodd, Chris (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 3, 2008; no position found as of that date Top    Edwards, John (D) - Pro John Edwards, former US Senator (D-NC), stated at the Sep. 26, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate, hosted by Microsoft/National Broadcasting Corporation (MSNBC) and held in Hanover, NH: "We're going to take the steps that need to be taken to restore America's moral leadership in the world, and that means a whole group of things: stopping the profiling, stopping the illegal -- and I use that term intentionally -- the illegal spying on the American people that this president has been engaged in. Closing Guantanamo, which I think is a national embarrassment. No more secret prisons, no more rendition." Sep. 26, 2007 John Edwards Top    Giuliani, Rudy (R) - Con Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, stated in a June 30, 2007 interview titled "'Do We Remain on Offense?'" with the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: "I don't think we should close Guantanamo. I think it should stay open. The only caveat I can give, and the only place where I would be at a slight disadvantage, is that I've never gone and looked at it--I haven't had a chance to go look at it. If I looked at it and came to the conclusion that it was as bad as some people claim, then I would say 'close it.' I don't think that that's the case. I think it's been grossly exaggerated, and many of the reports that I see are that it's not terribly different from any other prisons. I ran the prison system, so I know prisons." June 30, 2007 Rudy Giuliani Top      Gilmore, Jim (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Aug. 14, 2007; no position found as of that date Top    Gravel, Mike (Lib) - Pro Mike Gravel, former US Senator (D-AK), stated in an Apr. 21, 2007 article titled "Gravel Wraps Up Pittsburgh, New York City Swing" on his official candidate campaign website: "I will withdraw US troops from Iraq within 60 days and raze Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo. We must tell the world that the United States does not stand for torture. It is unacceptable human behavior." Apr. 21, 2007 Mike Gravel Top    Huckabee, Mike (R) - Pro Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, in a YouTube video titled "Huckabee: Gitmo Not In America's Best Interests" (accessed Jan. 7, 2008), stated: "I've been to Guantanamo, I was there, I guess it's been about a year and a half ago. I think the problem with Guantanamo is not in that its facilities are inadequate. It's the symbol that it represents. It's clearly become a symbol to the rest of the world as a place that has become problematic for us as a nation. I was quite frankly impressed with the quality of the facilities and even the attention to care that was given to the detainees, but that aside, it doesn't alter that Guantanamo, to the rest of the world, is a symbol that is not in our best interests to continue pursuing." Jan. 7, 2008 Mike Huckabee    Huckabee, Mike (R) - Con [Editor's Note: Prior to Mike Huckabee's Jan. 7, 2008 Pro position, he has also expressed a Con position as indicated by his June 11, 2007 statement in a FOXNews.com article titled "Huckabee Says Guantanamo Bay Offers Better Conditions to Detainees Than Most US Prisons"] "I can tell you most of our prisoners would love to be in a facility more like Guantanamo and less like the state prisons that people are in the United States... It's (Guantanamo) more symbolic than it is a substantive issue because people perceive of mistreatment when in fact there are extraordinary means being taken to make sure these detainees are being given really every consideration... But I tell you if we let somebody out and it turns out that they come and fly an airliner into one of our skyscrapers, we're going to be asking how come we didn't stop them, we had them detained. If we're going to make a mistake right now, let's make it on the side of protecting the American people." June 11, 2007 Mike Huckabee Top    Hunter, Duncan (R) - Con Duncan Hunter, US Representative (R-CA), stated in a June 25, 2007 United Press International article titled "Claim: Gitmo Closure Would Aid Terrorists": "Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee of the US House of Representatives and a conservative candidate for the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination, warned Friday that closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and transferring its inmates into the United States would have a serious impact on the broader US detainee policy, which was defined last year in the Military Commissions Act. 'Once these detainees are brought onto US soil, the detainees may acquire minimal rights under the Constitution, in particular, the right to habeas corpus. This change in status will inevitably spawn a completely new round of litigation,' Hunter said in a statement. 'While I believe the Combatant Status Review Tribunals that all detainees at Guantanamo receive satisfy those rights, it would take years of further litigation to finally reach that result,' the congressman said. 'Thus, the military commission process would be stalled for the foreseeable future, and none of the detainees at Guantanamo would be brought to justice.'" June 25, 2007 Duncan Hunter Top          Imperato, Daniel (3rd/I) - None Found ProCon.org emailed the Imperato campaign on Dec. 13, 2007 with this question. Mr. Imperato provided a response to this question and 26 others during a recorded 45-minute telephone interview with ProCon.org on Mar. 11, 2008. On Mar. 21, 2008 Mr. Imperato no longer met our eligibility criteria for inclusion on this site, and we stopped transcribing his verbal responses as of that date.   Top      Keyes, Alan (Ind) - Not Clearly Pro or Con Alan Keyes, former Assistant US Secretary of State, stated in a Jan. 23, 2002 Microsoft/National Broadcasting Company (MSNBC) broadcast of Alan Keyes Is Making Sense: "That means that the discussion and debate we have over capital punishment, over how we're treating prisoners in Guantanamo, these are things we shouldn't be impatient with. We should want to try to clearly understand the issues that are involved in order to make sure that as we fight against the evil that has struck us, we are doing so in a way that corresponds to the sense of principle and justice that has characterized this nation's hopes since it was founded." Jan. 23, 2002 Alan Keyes Top    Kubby, Steve (3rd/I) - Pro Steve Kubby, founder of the American Medical Marijuana Association, stated in an Jan. 10, 2008 email to ProCon.org: "Yes. The detainees at Guantanamo Bay are either prisoners of war, or they're accused criminals. If they're POWs [prisoners of war], they're entitled to a higher standard of treatment than they're receiving. If they're accused criminals, they're entitled to access to the courts and to the same constitutional protections as any other criminal defendants." Jan. 10, 2008 Steve Kubby Top    Kucinich, Dennis (D) - Pro Dennis Kucinich, US Representative (D-OH), in a Feb. 9, 2007 MSNBC.com article titled "Democrats May Seek Guantanamo Shutdown," stated: "You could close Guantanamo; that's a good move - but until the United States ends the occupation (of Iraq), we will still have this war." Feb. 9, 2007 Dennis Kucinich Top    McEnulty, Frank (3rd/I) - Pro Frank McEnulty, an Independent candidate and President of Our Castle Homes, in a Dec. 20, 2007 email to ProCon.org, stated: "Yes and I will go further to say that it should never have been opened. Criminals and prisoners of war should, almost exclusively, be kept in the country from which they belong or where they were captured." Dec. 20, 2007 Frank McEnulty Top    Paul, Ron (R) - Pro Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), stated in a June 28, 2007 MuckrakerReport.com article titled "An Interview with Presidential Candidate Congressman Ron Paul": "Shut it down. The current rationale at Guantanamo is based on the false premise that detainees are not entitled to due process protections. I support court decisions recognizing fundamental human rights, such as habeas corpus. Again, this is an issue that flies in the face of our civic and legal traditions as outlined in the Constitution. As such, I see no purpose for continuing the facility." June 28, 2007 Ron Paul Top    Richardson, Bill (D) - Pro Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico, stated at the Sep. 26, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate, hosted by Microsoft/National Broadcasting Corporation (MSNBC) and held in Hanover, NH: "I will also be a President that will bring back habeas corpus and the rule of law. I will also be a President that will shut down Guantanamo. I will also be a President that will follow the Constitution and not permit torture as a tool in our foreign policy. I will not eavesdrop on American citizens. And I will not go to war, unless I get the consent of Congress." Sep. 26, 2007 Bill Richardson Top    Romney, Mitt (R) - Con Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated at the May 15, 2007 Republican Presidential Debate in Columbia, SC, hosted by FOX News: "I'm glad they're at Guantanamo. I don't want them on our soil. I want them on Guantanamo, where they don't get the access to lawyers they get when they're on our soil. I don't want them in our prisons. I want them there. Some people have said, we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is, we ought to double Guantanamo." May 15, 2007 Mitt Romney Top    Smith, Christine (3rd/I) - Pro Christine Smith, a Libertarian candidate and a social and political activist, stated in a Feb. 27, 2008 email to ProCon.org: "Yes. The fundamental rights and civil liberties of all must always be ensured with all guaranteed due process of law. American citizens must never be subjected to military (Pentagon) trials/tribunals but always protected with due process of law and prosecution only in federal courts. Foreigners, too, must never be subject to torture and rights such as habeas corpus respected. Neither national crisis or heinous criminal acts justify the use of torture or indefinite imprisonment of any human being." Feb. 27, 2008 Christine Smith Top      Tancredo, Tom (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Dec. 20, 2007; no position found as of that date Top    Thompson, Fred (R) - Con Fred Thompson, former US Senator (R-TN), stated in a Nov. 3, 2007 New York Times article titled "3 Top Republican Candidates Take a Hard Line on the Interrogation of Detainees": "I think that Guantanamo Bay is necessary. Those who have criticized Guantanamo Bay do not come with any alternative." Nov. 3, 2007 Fred Thompson Top      Thompson, Tommy (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Sep. 12, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Vilsack, Tom (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Feb. 23, 2007; no position found as of that date